"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)

Sunday, August 4, 2013

In Solidarity with Civil Society in Belarus

"We wish to express our
solidarity with all those who suffer from any form of oppression and
injustice, and with those in the world who have been silenced or
marginalized." - Oswaldo Paya

Please take a moment out of your day today to demonstrate your solidarity with civil society and the defenders of a free society in Belarus. Their struggle is also ours because we are all interconnected. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail on April 16, 1963 explained it:

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in
an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of
destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never
again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea."

He placed this in the American context talking about the American South but 50 years later we understand that it holds true internationally either for good or ill.

The past half century has demonstrated how agents of injustice cooperate and collaborate in expanding their zone of power of influence. Cubans have seen first hand how the Castro dictatorship has embraced and collaborated with the worse dictatorships on the planet to undermine civil society and human rights standards. The Castro brothers have a close working relationship withAlexander Lukashenko, who has also been called the "Fidel Castro of Europe."

This is not a call to armed intervention or political violence but to solidarity and nonviolent resistance with the forces in Belarus that advocate for justice and freedom. Solidarity is stronger than repression in the same manner that justice is more powerful then injustice.

Below is some information on the current state of affairs in Europe's last dictatorship prepared by Belarus activists:

About Belarus

Why Belarus?

Belarus is a country with rich history in the middle of Europe

Belarus is a country where old castles were preserved, where one can
still find beautiful national parks and wild nature preserves;

In Belarus the following famous people were born: revolutionary and
national hero of Belarus, Poland and the USA Tadeusz Kościuszko, one of
the first publishers in Europe Francysk Skaryna, poet and revolutionary
Konstanty Kalinowski, painter Mark Shagal, writer Vasil Bykaŭ, Nobel
Prize in physics Zhores Alferov, science fiction guru Isaac Asimov, etc.

Belarus is a country where lots of our friends and beloved, relatives and colleagues and just many good people live.

In Belarus there are lots of civil society organizations and
groups, journalists, activists, artists, musicians, thinkers,
philosophers and poets. In Belarus progressive ideas are being
discussed, people work on creative projects and new civil universities
are established. It means that in that country we can find something
what is called all over the world “civil society” and where we can meet
people, who are ready to take responsibility for their country and its
future.

But at the same time it is very hard to live in this country because of the following:

The authorities very seldom pay attention to the National
Constitution, governing by the orders of president Lukashenko, and
simply ignore or violate international human rights obligations.

The Belarus authorities don’t respect the Law. Belarus is the only
country of the continent, where European Convention of Human Rights does
not apply. On one side, the legislature frequently passes bills that
limit civil liberties of citizens; on the other side the executive do it
anyways - without any laws. Judicial system doesn’t meet international
standards of justice and in cases between the state and a citizen, there
is close to zero chance for just verdict.

Belarus is the only country in Europe where death penalty is still
being applied. In March 2012 two people accused of organizing and
conducting a terrorist attack in 2011 in Minsk Metro were sentenced to
death and executed. In the opinion of experts and independent observers
their guilt wasn’t proven beyond any reasonable doubts. According to the
law their bodies are not handed over to the relatives and their burial
place remains secret.

In the past 10 years every single election has been followed by mass protests and unlawful detentions of hundreds of people (in 2010- more
than 700), as well as massive searches (in 2010- more than 1000),
including in the offices of civil society groups. Practically, every
presidential candidate (except Lukashenko) was either accused of mass
rioting, imprisoned or forced to emigrate.

In Belarus penitentiaries there are prisoners of conscience and
political prisoners, including human right activists, journalists,
opposition figures, whose sentences are due to their criticism of the
authorities. Belarus authorities frequently use political prisoners in
negotiations and political exchanges with European Union, the USA and
Russia.

In Belarus participation in unregistered organization is a criminal
offense punishable by up to two years of prison. This can can apply to
any group, for example those that help children in orphanages, clubs of
journalism enthusiasts and most of all to any human rights group or
political opposition initiative.

In Belarus almost all public actions (if they do not support the
regime) are prohibited and their participants face arrest for up to 15
days (sometimes, several times in a row). After mass actions of “silent
protest” (people gathering together in random squares without signs or
slogans and simply clapping) “massively organized inactivity” was also
made punishable. During mass actions, a number of people who are
detained for swearing or other acts of “hooliganism” increases manifold
as the authorities use those petty offenses as pretext for placing
activist under arrest for a few days.

The authorities of Belarus may prohibit their citizens to go abroad
(some recent cases include men over 40 and women - for “avoiding
military service” or yet “not implementing court decisions” event if
there has been no trials – all as pretexts for placing exit bans on
human rights defenders and opposition activists). The authorities also
wrongfully refuse entry for citizens of other countries, including
Belarus neighbors and partners with visa free border regimes. In 2012
the KGB (still the name of secret service) has been officially entitled
to refuse exit for “unreliable people”, whose names have been entered in
their “preventive list”.

Belarus is a country which suffered the most from Chernobyl nuclear
reactor disaster in 1986 and now the authorities hide the real
ecological situation on contaminated areas, planning to build a new
nuclear power station with money of Russian citizens. The plans continue
in spite of local protests and objections of ecologists.

In Belarus for a long time Belarus language was prohibited. Till now,
its authorities do nothing to restore historical memory about
repressions which occurred in the period of USSR, On the contrary they
restore Soviet-era monuments, like “the line of Stalin”.

In Belarus students are often expelled from universities and schools
under political pressure, first of all, because of beliefs and openly
expressed opinions.

Usual and regular reply of Belarus authorities to criticism on
behalf of civil society and almost any type of civic activism- is either
a ban or arrest.

Of course, we can say that the situation in Belarus is not the worst one, there are some countries where it is much worse

BUT first, it’s not the reason not to do anything for Belarus;
second, if there is possibility to change the situation in this country it means that we can also help other countries.

After all, if we agree with injustice and take it for granted, then it comes into reality.